Venezuela Finds 30,000 Tons Of Rotting Food At Govt Warehouse (Wall Street Journal)CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan authorities discovered nearly 1,200 shipping containers full of rotten food at a state-run warehouse and have arrested a former top official in the government's Socialist food distribution network.

The discovery of the 30,000 tons of out-of-date milk, rice and wheat flour at the warehouse in the port city of Puerto Cabello is seen as a blow to President Hugo Chavez, who has been blaming opposition forces and private industry for a recent rise in food shortages.

Chavez, addressing the issue in a speech Tuesday night, said the food was left to go bad due to "mistakes, inefficiency"